Nail-plate feeder



J. M. EDSON.

NAIL PLATE FEEDER.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

Patented Feb. 4

No. 420,492.v

(No Mode.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. M. EDSON.

NAIL PLATE FEEDER.

No. 420,492. Patented Feb. 4, 1890.

wA Pneus, Hammam-.pm wnsmngm n c chines for operating the grippers inthrowing f falls and rises, any springing or twisting ac- UNTTED` STATESPATENT @Erroreo JOHN M. EDSON, OF TOWANDA, PENNSYLVANIA.

NAIL-PLATE FEEDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 420,492, dated February4, 1890.

Application filed June 25, 1889. Serial No. 315,492. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, JOHN M. EDSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Towanda, in the county of Bradford and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inNail-Plate Feeders; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, suoli as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertai'ns to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this speciiication.

This invention relates to that class of devices which are attached tonail-making machines and act as a part thereof to intermittently seizeupon the nipper-rod carrying the nail-plate and feed it to the machine.

The principal object of my invention is to dispense with muchcomplicated mechanism usually employed in nail-plate-feeding maforwardthe nipper-rod, and this I accomplish by the arrangement of mechanismhereinafter described, whereby the grippers are operated directly fromthe heading-lever and by the same power that actuates said lever, andwhereby the nail plate or blank is fed forward to the cutting-knife bythe end of the shove-up rod striking the bed of the mach-ine.

Another object of lny invention is to overcome the difficulty existinginthe automatic nail-plate feeders with which I am acquainted, wherebywhen the plate is cut to form the nail, the grippers still holding thenipper-r od, the movement of the cutting-knife often brings the side ofthe knife against the edge of the plate, or one portion of the edge,before the plate is turned, thus springing the forks holding the plateand giving the plate slight twist, resulting in giving the side of thenext nail cut an imperfect shape, and thus spoiling it. I overcome thisdifficulty by the arrangement of mechanism hereinafter described,whereby at the moment before cutting the nail-blank the grippers releasethe nipper-rod, and, the rod and blank being free from the gripperswhile the knife on of the forks by the action of the knife upon theblank at the time of cutting` is prevented.

Another object is to provide a more convenient nipper-rod stop thanthose generally in use, and, finally, by my arrangement to lessen thenumber of parts heretofore employed in nail-plate feeders to accomplishthe same results, and to thereby simplify the machine and to lessen thecost of manufacture.

My improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a perspective side view of my improvements; Fig. 2,an endview; and Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, ll, and l2, details.

My improvements are designed to be attached to any well-known automaticnailplate-cutting machine, and any convenient power is applied throughintermediate shafting, so that such shafting and its connections withthe machine are not here shown or particularly described.

Referring to the drawings, A is a rod receiving an intermittentreciprocating movement from a shaft and eccentric. (Not shown.)

`Itis connected and imparts its motion to an arm A', provided with ajointed head A2, connecting with a vertical standard B.

C is a barrel connected to a barrel-rest C', pivoted within a yokeextending rigidly from the bed of the machine in the usual manner.

E is a half-circular rack behind barrel-rest C to engage with a cog (notshown) extending from the barrel through a slot therein, for turning thebarrel.

Dis the feed-rest, rigidly secured at one end to the vertical standard Band at the opposite. end pivoted to and carrying the grippers andgripper attachments. At this end the rest D is forked, and the forkedarms d d are secured to the gripper-head by means of screw-bolts Q. Thearms d are internally screw-threaded to engage the bolts Q, and the endsof these bolts are smooth and conicalshaped and engage withcorrespondinglyshaped recesses k formed in each end of a pin K,connecting the grippers O P. The gripper O is rigid and has cast 'in onepiece therewith the lugs P and the pin K. The gripper P is pivoted atits center to the lugs P by a pin p, and is provided near its lower endwith a slot p2, by which it is enabled to swing freely to and fromgripper O on pin p.

L is a iiipperrod passing at one end through the barrel C and providedwith the usual nipper jaws or forks and passing at the other end betweenthe grippers O and P and resting on a yoke G. This yoke is connected toa rod II, supported in a standard l. The rod and standard arescrewtlireaded, and nutst' and h are employed to regulate the setting ofrod H, and also the yoke G to properly hold the iiippei'iod L. The yokeG passes through a slot g in the rod H, and its position is regulated bythe nut h, so as to vary the set of the yoke to conform to theinequalities of nipper-rods, (which being of wood are sometimes more orless warped,) and to thus hold the rod in line through the barrel.

F is a rod that is commonly designated as the shove-up rod. It extendsfrom the grip per O to or near the bed Z of the machine, passing looselythrough an aperture in barreliest standard C', that supports the saidrod F, which is provided with a lever-arm V, and near the opposite endwith a cam R, secured thereto by a set-screw 7', while the end of thcrod passes into a recess in the gripper O. At that end the rod F isprovided with a conically-shaped recess lo. A headed screw-bolt f isprovided with a set-nut o, and the inner end of said bolt is conical tolit into the recess 7c. The purpose of screwf is to regulate thedistance of the reciprocating motion of the nipper-iod. The lever-arm Von the shove-up rod F is adapted to hang over the lieading-lever T andreceive strokes from the arm X, which is attached to the saidheadinglever by a bolt and claspt and adapted to strike lever-arm V whenthe heading-lever vibiates, and thus rotate the said shove-up rod, forthe purpose hereinafter described. The cam R, near the other end of theshove-up rod F, is adapted to engage with the lug P2 on lower end ofgripper P.

XV is a coiled spring attached at one end to a projecting lower end O ofgripper O and at the other end to a pendent rod iv, connected to theshove-up rod F, the purpose of which arrangement is to bring theshove-up iod back to its normal position, so as to open the jaws of thegrippers after the rod F has been rotated to close them.

In an automatic nail-feeder it is necessary to .provide the nipper-rodwith a stop, whereby the grippers are prevented from forcing the rodforward under the cutting knife when the nail-plate has been cut up tothe forks of the said Dipper-rod. For this Iprovide the nipper-rod stopJ, which consists of a cylinder slotted its whole lengthloiigitudinally. It has a iiange on one end and its outer surface isscrew-tlireaded. It tapers from the ange to its opposite end, and isprovided with a band j, screw-threaded on its inner surface, adapted toscrew on the tapering surface of the cylinder and lessen its diameter bycompressing it and closing or partially closing the slot. The cylinder Jis slipped on the outer end of the nipper-rod L and firmly secured to itat the proper place, so as to strike the support G and stop the forwardmovement of the said nipper rod when the nail-plate is snfiiciently cutup. The cylinder J is secured to the iiipper-rod L by screwing theringyl along the tapering surface of said cylinder, thereby lesseningits diameter as the slot j closes. I provide the ringj with a milled oi'rough and i'aiscdouter sui'face around the middle part, so that it canbe seized by the grasp of the operator and easily screwed or unscrewed.I

There are two motions essentially required in an automatic nail-platefeeder-one to cause the jaws of the grippers to close upon and grip thenipper-rod and then open and loosen it intermittently, the other motionto shove up the nipper-rod which carries the nail-plate under theeutting-kiiife at regular intervals and set distances, varying accordingto the size of nail being cut. Both of these motions I accomplish in anovel manner by providing the shove-up rod with the cam R and lever V,extending the rod to very near the bed of the nail-machine, and byrigidly attaching an arin to the center of the heading-lever adapted t-oextend to and strike the lever V.

My nail-plate feeder is operated as follows: Vhcn power is applied tothe eccentric-rod A and the heading-lever T, through their connectionswith a inain revolving shaft, the feed-rest D is forced forward and backand the heading-lever is vibrated on its center or axis at right anglesto the motion of the feedrest. The nail-machine being at rest with theiiipper-rod in place, and the feed-rest back or outward, and thegrippers open, power is applied, when the feed-rest is drawn forward orinward and the heading-lever is vibrated. The moment the heading-levervibrates, the bar X strikes the lever V, causing the shove-up rod F torotate the cam R, which, pressing against the lower end P2 of loosegripper P, turns it on its pivot p, and the nipper-rod L is thus seizedwithin the jaws of the grippers O and P. The moment after theheading-lever vibrates, the feed-rest is drawn forward or inward by theeccentricrod A, causing the inner end of tlie shove-up rod F to strikethey bed Z of the iiail-machine and its outer end to force the lower endof the gripper O outward, and thereby the upper ends of both grippers Oand P inward, thus shovinor the nipper-rod forward and carrying thenail-plate under the cutting-knife.

What l claim is- 1. In a nail-plate feeder, in combination with anail-machine, a shove-up rod provided with an arm or level' near itsinner end adapted to receive strokes from a lug rigidly secured to theheading-lever, whereby the shove-up IOD IIO

IZO

rod is rotated back and forth by the direct action of the heading-lever,substantially as described.

2. In combination with a nail-machine and the grippers of a nail-platefeeder, a shove-up rod actuated by the motion of the headinglever andprovided with a cam near its outer end adapted to engage a lug extendingfrom the lower end of the loose gripper, whereby the grippers areoperated to grip the nipperrod by the Vibrations of the heading-lever,substantially as described.

3. The combination of the heading-lever provided with an arm, such as X,rigidly attached to its center, with a shove-up rod provided with alever, such as V, whereby when the heading-lever is vibrated its saidarm will strike the lever of the shove-up rod, as and for the purposedescribed.

4. In a nail-plate feeder, in combination with the actuating mechanism,an eccentricshaft, barrel, barrel-rest, nipper-rod, feed-rest, andgrippers, said feed-rest provided with a standard, an adjustable rodmounted on said standard, and an adjustable yoke secured to said rod tosupport the nipper-rod when the grasp of the grippers on the nipper-rodis released, and means to adjust the yoke up and down on said rod,substantially as described.

5. In 'a nail-plate feeder, a feed-rest provided with the standard I, incombination with the adjustable rod H and the supporting adjustable yokeG, substantially as and for the purpose described.

(5. In combination with the shove-up rod provided with the lever-arm Vand with the cam R, the rigid gripper O, said cam being located on thesideof said gripper, and the loose gripper P, the said gripper P pivotedcentrally to the gripper O and provided at its lower end with anextension P2, with which said cam on the shove-up rod engages,substantially as and for the purpose described.

7 YIn a nail-plate feeder, the rigid gripper O, having cast integraltherewith the lugs P and the pin K, in combination Wit-h the gripper P,pivoted to said lugs and provided with a slot to engage with said pin,substantially as described.

8. In combination with a nail-plate feeder, a nipper-rod stop consistingof a cylinder slit longitudinally and having a flange on one end and itsouter surface tapering and screwthreaded from the said ilange to itsopposite end and provided with a ring screw-threaded on its innersurface adapted to screw on said cylinder and thereby diminish itsdiameter, for the purpose substantially as set forth.

9. In combination with the nipper-rod and the feed-rest provided withthe supportingyoke G, the slotted-rod stop J, provided with the band j,whereby the forward movement of the nipper-rod is controlled,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' JOHN M. EDSON.

IVitnesses:

SAMUEL W. BUCK, JOHN G. CULvER.

